Habitat for Humanity turns toward building prefabricated homes

Habitat for Humanity’s Flathead chapter has repurposed part of its ReStore building for the production of prefabricated homes, boosting productivity and cutting costs.

The big warehouse-like room that sits in the rear of the ReStore previously housed donated appliances, but Executive Director MaryBeth Morand decided the sheltered space, removed from cold Montana winters, would be better used by volunteers working on future homes. 

Fitted with a donated industrial saw and large table, Morand says the room is purposed to construct walls in a comfortable, heated and controlled environment.  

Volunteers have already used the room to frame the walls of a three-bedroom, single-family home in Columbia Falls.  

“We’re going to break ground on that in March, and we’ve already built all the walls,” Morand said.  

She estimates the house will cost between $335,000 and $375,000, although it’s still too early to say. The Northwest Community Land Trust owns the land underneath, further cutting the home cost.  

Habitat for Humanity projects also require homeowners to put in hours of sweat equity, meaning they must help build their own homes.  

The prefabricated walls will be trailered out to the site, but Morand said she will have to look for the help of a crane company to get them off the truck. She hopes to eventually invest in a tilt trailer that would slide them onto the ground.  

The named “pre-production facility” will also be used to store timber, which has not dropped in price since surging during the Covid-19 pandemic, Morand said.  

“If we see a good deal on timber, we can stockpile it,” she said.   

Because of the added efficiency of building in an indoor space and stockpiling supplies, Morand estimates that $4,000 will be shaved off each home. Since Flathead Habitat’s inception in 1989, Morand said the nonprofit was building one to two houses a year, but she is hoping to get it into the double digits. 

“Now we can build a house every four months,” she said.  

As an influx of volunteers, including those in the national organization’s Care-A-Vanner program, join the ranks in the summer months, she hopes to keep the facility running while also building at the construction sites.  

Habitat Flathead runs volunteer builds on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday every week.  

Reporter Jack Underhill can be reached at 758-4407 and junderhill@dailyinterlake.com. 

    Stetson Jore with Habitat for Humanity of Flathead Valley works on the framing of a wall at the company's new pre-production facility inside their ReStore building on Thursday, Feb. 27. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider   

    Stetson Jore, Isabella Schenone and Garrett Roberson add a layer of sheathing to a wall at the Habitat for Humanity of Flathead Valley's new pre-production facility inside their Restore building on Thursday, Feb. 27. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider